A Summer Sunset
by theperksofbeing-kate
Summary: Josh Hutcherson, XX changed to Anderson in the hopes that I sound less creepy writing this XX  is one of the most popular actors to date. Why then, does Casey turn him into a complete mess of words and actions? Josh x O/C
1. Chapter 1

Casey sat on the curb across the street in an oversized sweater and denim shorts, her pen hanging out of her mouth, journal in her lap. She quickly jotted something down then peered up. He was watching her again. She could never concentrate when he was near. She rolled her eyes and shut her pen in her book, turning to the bike rack a few feet away."Stop staring!" Bree harshly whispered, directed at Josh. He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut a few times before returning to reality."What?" He lazily replied, eyes still fixated in Casey's direction."You know very well what. You've been watching her for almost 10 minutes. If I were her, I think I'd file a report," She joked, lightly punching his arm at the last remark. "I have no idea what you're referring too, sweetheart," He joked back at his sister, pulling himself off the gravel he'd been sitting on.A few years younger than Josh, Bree thought she knew everything. Being fourteen pretty much puts you in that mindset directly on your birthday."Just talk to her," Bree took the hand Josh extended her way and pulled herself up next to him."Go find friends your own age, Bree." The annoyance was setting into his voice as he turned toward the pier, opposite Casey. As if on cue, Val, one of Bree's classmates ran toward her, screaming at the top of her lungs."Bree! Bree! Oh my god, Bree! You'll never guess who just asked me out-" Josh interrupted, being very fond of Val he loved to poke fun at her."Oh my god, Bree you will NEVER guess! I bet it's that cutie, Austin from the ice cream shop! Or maybe that total stud, Brandon from the surf shack! Please explain in explicit detail EVERYTHING." He put both hands on Bree's shoulder, slightly shaking her in faux-excitement. Val rolled her eyes, grinning ear-to-ear and replied,"Shut up, Josh. Just because he isn't a movie star doesn't mean he's any less of a person.""Not at all what I meant, darling," He shot back in a sing-song manner, lightly pinching one of her cheeks before turning back to the pier. As their voices faded into the background, he was faced with the ocean tide once more. He ran a hand through his almost black hair, creating a mess out of it before kicking off his shoes and taking a seat on the sandy pier. He lightly kicked his feet in the water as his thoughts drew back to Casey. She had gorgeous red/brown hair that reached the small of her back and reflected every ray of sun that came in contact with it's silky texture. She had a small frame and was almost always seen in her signature oversized sweater, casually tucked in the front of her belt that held up her denim shorts. Not his usual type, but the only girl that made the earth stop turning. The only girl that made the waves stop lapping the shore. The only girl who made his mouth slack open every time she walked past. The only girl worth a damn in his book. She'd never know, of course. She had no idea and if it were up to Josh it would stay that way. The second you tell a girl what she means to you, is the second you lose all hope of finding happiness with her. That's the moment where you lose the faint hope you had for her as she laughs in your face and turns the opposite direction to never cross your path again. To risk anything would be a stupid decision. Josh stayed put on the beach for what seemed like hours of uninterrupted silence. Only in his mind of course, as the beach was covered with people. But as far as he was concerned, he was alone with the sunset slowly drawing the day to a close. He tore his eyes away from the almond colored sky to the spot where his shoes had been. He debated leaving them there and spending the night lying on the beach, consumed with thoughts of things that would never be. But at the familiar scream of Val's goodbye, he realized it was time to go home. He slowly pulled his legs out of the water and lazily made his way to his trainers. He bent over to slip them on when he was unsuspectingly knocked over by the scratchy material of a knitted sweater. "Oh my god, I'm sorry. Here, let me help you up," She offered, half laughing, before she realized who it was. As soon as Josh turned his head her eyes grew wide, but her hand stayed extended in anticipation of helping him back to his feet. He sat in shock for a few seconds too long before finally slipping on his remaining shoe and grabbing her hand. As he was lifted to his feet he was in sudden realization of just how big of a height distance they had. She was about 5'3" and he was a towering 6'1". His mouth slightly agape, as it always was, he took in her beauty up close. He noticed her ocean-blue eyes dotted with faint orange spots encircling her pupil. They reminded him, very much in detail, of the shore. Her soft pink lips, mimicked his, in which they were slightly parted. Her nose and cheekbones were splattered with freckles and flakes of worn off mascara. Her hair, now a mess blowing in the wind, was put into a messy braid while her fringe was splayed all over her face. She reached up to correct it with her hand, leaving Josh's to fall back to his side. "Thanks," He replied gruffly, coughing once to clear his throat and then tried again, "Uh.. Thanks Cas-" He stopped himself. He wasn't supposed to know her name, they'd only ever spoken maybe three times his entire life. "Just... I have to go," The words flew out of his mouth before they registered with his brain and he took off in the the other direction completely mortified. Casey turned back to Angela, the friend who casually pushed her into the mess that was Josh. "Thanks," Casey said coldly while crossing her arms and cocking her head to the side in anticipation of an explanation. "He's cute." Was all she had to say before grabbing her bag and walking to her car. Casey rolled her eyes as she replied,"Why would he ever be into me?"


	2. Chapter 2

He quickened his pace and continued home, silently cursing himself for acting like such a fool. It was his one chance to make things just the slightest bit better, if anything less awkward, but all he'd achieved was falling on his face, and tripping over his words. I should've just left it alone, He thought. Thanked her and left without giving a second thought, this shouldn't be this hard! He kicked an abandoned soda can a lot harder than necessary, sending it skidding across the gravel as he turned the corner to his street. He shoved his hands in his pockets as a gust of wind pushed his hair back, revealing a pink scar above his eyebrow. He stormed up the front steps to his house and was instantly thrown into a fit of screaming girls. "Bree! Can you keep it down! I'm really not in the mood!" He shook his head as he grabbed a bottled water from the fridge."That's not what I hear!" The girls were thrown into more laughter at this comment as she came running down the stairs and into the living room. "Come here!" She screamed from the other room."God, no one talks in this house," He mumbled under his breath, taking slow steps towards the TV."Look, look!" She pointed to the screen which was flipped to the worst of them all, StarrTV. "Why are we watching this trash?" Bree cut him off with a symphony of shushes as she danced around in her seat. He reluctantly sat on the arm of their couch and listened to the JOSH ANDERSON HEATING IT UP WITH FAMILIAR SCHOOL GIRL? IS IT LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT FOR THIS YOUNG STARLET? SO MANY QUESTIONS, SO LITTLE TIME, JOSH. WHY DON'T YOU SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT? The annoying voice of Dimetri Prince filled the room as pictures of Casey and Josh filled the 60" screen to which Bree was clinging to. Josh's jaw dropped in realization that this had happened not even an hour ago and was already all over the press."Shit," He mumbled under his breath, careful not to let Bree hear."I see you finally took my advice, lovebird," Bree poked his side playfully, which sent him even further into the anger he had walking home."No, I didn't. And how the hell did they get that? I swear, sometimes I think it was just easier being in the spotlight. This whole 'staying under the radar' isn't doing anything but causing more problems," His voice almost reaching a mild yell as he stormed out of the room and down the steps to his own room. After a very long talk with many of the agents his parents had hired for him, Josh realized he was living a life he no longer cared for. The adoring fans, packs of screaming girls, paparazzi following him everywhere... It was never what he wanted after seeing what Hollywood had done to so many before him. He made the hasty decision to be dropped from the A-list and moved back home. Everyone was already familiar with the old carefree Josh they had said their goodbyes to almost 5 years ago, so no one was really in shock when he came back. However the press had a hard time letting him go and frequently followed him to snap the occasional photo that would pay their months rent."Pathetic," He whispered to himself as he released all his weight onto the soft sheets of his bed. He ran both of his hands through his, now wind-blown, hair slightly pulling at the ends. He pulled out his phone and glanced at the clock: 9:37pm. He lightly threw his phone to the chair across the room and shut his eyes. Suddenly aware of how tired he was, he kicked off his shoes and was asleep within it felt like only minutes before he was awoken by the sound of banging feet on the wood floor above him."Bree," He mumbled groggily, grabbing a handful of covers and yanking them above his head before turning to his side for a more comfortable position. He shut his eyes and tried for what seemed like an hour to fall back asleep but it was no good. He threw back the covers and swung his feet over the edge of his bed. He wiped at his eyes, trying to remove the sleep and was welcomed with a sharp pain. "Damn it!" He whispered as he pried the old contact out of his left eye. He crossed the room to his bathroom and took out the other, reaching for his glasses. He glanced at the mirror and tried to comb out the mess of hair he was faced with. After a few tries he realized it was no use and killed the lights. He blindly stumbled back to his bedroom and felt for the light switch. Once he finally hit the right button, he moved to his closet. After a few minutes he emerged in dark wash jeans, nikes, florescent pink shirt, and a leather jacket over everything. He crossed the room back over to his phone and checked the time: 5:42am."Damn." He was in awe of his own ability to get up at such an hour. Especially on a Saturday. He moved to the window and saw that everything was still dark aside from a few street lamps. Eh, I'm up. Better at least start the day, he took a step back and opened the window to a point where he could easily slide out. He slammed it shut behind him and headed down the sidewalk. He made it about 2 blocks before the sun finally made an appearance, and an alarmingly bright one at that. He reached for his sunglasses in his back pocket and slide them on before bringing his hands back to his pockets. He aimlessly walked a few more blocks before hearing the first click of a camera. He instinctively snapped his head around, and just as he suspected, was bombarded with questions as the paparazzi started gaining on him."Honestly?" He mumbled before deciding he'd better run. After so much practice in this department, he was gone and around the corner in a flash. He jumped a dumpster of a nearby restaurant and scaled the back of it, making sure he was concealed from their direction. Just as he let out a breath of relief he was startled by a familiar voice,"Can I help you with something?" Casey's confused attitude instantly brought more fear from the paparazzi. He reached up and put a hand over her mouth while pulling the rest of her down by her waist. She fought it at first, but reluctantly agreed to listening to what he had to say."Don't make a sound. Don't move," He whispered, holding her head at his shoulder while he waited for the sound of more cameras and distant voices. As soon as he was sure they'd passed he released her mouth, sending her first questions shooting out of her mouth before he had the change to take another breath."What was that? What are you doing?" The alarm in her words were clear, but he couldn't help laughing at her ignorance of the situation."And why are you laughing? Nothing funny happened! Quit it!" She tried to sound irritated, but the slight smile couldn't be hidden by the overwhelming irritation. "Sorry, sorry, it's just... Wait. Why are you wearing an apron?" Always distracted, that boy."I... What?" Now she was more confused than ever. "You came running through the streets, flew over our trash bin, practically jumped me! And YOU'RE the one asking questions?""Yeah. Who's apron?" God, he was hopeless."Mine, I work here. This is a restaurant, Josh. I'm a waitress," She was obviously exasperated, but figured she wasn't going to get anywhere without answering looked around for some indication that they were at a restaurant, but couldn't find anything."Doesn't look like a restaurant," Now he was just avoiding all questions pertaining to the previous situation."Oh. My God," She was beyond exasperated at this point. She pulled herself up from the ground and offered a hand to Josh. "Come on." He took it and was pulled to his feet. "So you waitress here? I AM a bit hungry, I think I might stop in," Flashing her a smile, he left the dumpster and came around the front, pulling open the thick glass doors, setting off a light DING! He instantly took in a deep breath, trying to get ride of the overpowering trash smell. An overly perky waitress about forty years old with an out of date beehive hairstyle came rushing to his side. Between smacks of her gum, she managed,"How can I help you?""Yeah, I'm looking to sit in Casey's section if that's possible, ma'am. Table for one." His charm had always came in handy in the past, time to see if he still had it."Sure honey, anything's possible for you." Yep. Still got it. She led him to a back corner and handed him a slightly dusty menu. She read off the specials as he tried to look interested and blew off the majority of the dust. "Casey will be right over to take your order," She ended with a few more smacks of gum and walked back to her perch. Josh glanced over the menu and took a sip of water. He heard a distant door slam and casually looked around for Casey. She brushed off her apron and instinctively rolled her eyes at the sight of Josh. The gum smacker rushed over to Casey and talked a bit louder than necessary."Oh Casey, you have the _nicest_ boy here. He _especially_ requested you, sweetie!" She reached up to fix her already over hair sprayed style and glanced over at Josh, who gave a charming smile at her direction."Thanks Helen," She replied, obviously not happy about the situation. She grabbed a pen our of her apron and stuck it behind her ear as she made her way over."What can I help you with?" Unmistakably bitter."Hey, that's no way to talk to a customer," He joked at her, giving another award-winning smile."Listen, I have real work to do-" He cut her off."And I'm a real customer. I'd like a number 5, thanks," He finished, handing her the menu and nonchalantly taking another sip of his drink. She suppressed a smile and took the menu, casually grazing his hand before turning her back and leaving. He watched her go and lightly bit his lip. Typical boy. He watched her as she handled the rest of her tables with the utmost respect and politeness, catching her glance every now and again, causing her to smile. When she finally returned with his order, she had to put in a lot of effort to look bothered, and he spotted it right away. "Thanks, dear," He took the plate from her and started unfolding his napkin. "Dear?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow."Just being polite," He replied without missing a beat. She let out a sigh before asking if he needed anything else and started making her way to the other practically inhaled his food, realizing he never had dinner the previous night. When she came back around to ask how the food was, her eyes widened at the fact he was about one bite away from finishing. "Um... Food alight?" Her face screwed in confusion."Delicious," He replied, laughing at her expression. "Well, if there's anything else I can get you, just let me know." She started walking away but he caught her hand, making her whip around. "Actually..." He started, but was thrown back into the nervousness of yesterday and couldn't find the words that were clearly in his head a few moments ago. She expectancy looked at him, but he was totally lost."Never mind," He finally managed, dropping her hand and directing his eyes to the space of white tablecloth in front of him. She gave a confused look, which he never saw, and mumbled "Okay." before waking away."Damn it," He whispered as soon as she was out of earshot, running a hand through his hair. He got out a ten and left it crumpled on the table, not waiting for the bill. He pushed out his chair and walked to the front doors before being ambushed by Helen. "You have a good day, sweetie!" She yelled from around the back of the small diner. "Thanks," He mumbled back, throwing a hand in his pocket and pushing open the doors. He started walking aimlessly again, when he glanced at the huge tower clock on the church a block away. 7:05. "Oh my God." He'd never told his parents where he was going, they were probably worried, they'd never caught him out before, especially not by climbing out his window! He was thrown into an instant panic and started running home. He raced down his street, feeling the sweat roll off his face as he shot through his already opened window and into the bathroom to wipe off the sweat. He grabbed his phone off the chair he'd left it on last night and checked for messages. Thankfully, it showed a blank screen. He took a sigh of relief and collapsed on his bed. He kicked off his shoes, which were becoming far too uncomfortable and put both hands behind his head. He couldn't take one breath of relaxation before he heard the clanging of dishes upstairs and the banging of feet colliding down his bedroom steps. "Breakfast, sweetie," His mom came through the door but fell short at the fact that he was already dressed. "Going somewhere?" She asked expectantly, folding her arms."Uh... No just got up early and couldn't fall back asleep. I was thinking of maybe going downtown later." Smooth."Oh well alright, have fun kiddo." She ruffled his hair and went back through his door and up the steps. "Guess I'm going downtown now," He mumbled as soon as she was out of earshot, "Great."


	3. Chapter 3

He decided to finally get some use out of his car and grabbed the keys off his desk. Jingling them in his hand, he slipped his shoes on and headed up the stairs. His mom took notice of the keys and gave a warm smile."Have fun, honey." I suppose she was a bit sympathetic around him, especially when it involved going places alone when you would regularly bring someone along. No one had taken too well to Josh since the move back. They all made assumptions, mostly consisting of his status over everyone. To put it bluntly, they all assumed he thought he was the shit when in reality, he couldn't be any farther from shrugged his shoulders and headed out the door. He sat in his car for well over ten minutes trying to figure out where to go. He finally decided a bookstore wouldn't be too out of the ordinary to visit alone. He stuck the key in the ignition and turned until a steady roar filled his ears. He slowly backed out of the unusually small driveway and steered toward the book shop, about 15 minutes away. He drove in complete silence for about half the trip without noticing, his thoughts much louder than any music could be. He was overwhelmingly aware of just how alone he felt in the sea of cars around him. He took in the sights of teenage girls, much like he would imagine Bree in future years, dancing around the front seat, singing at the top of their lungs. A mother and daughter, complete silence on the daughter part, while the mother talked her ear off. An elderly couple slightly nodding their heads to the music that filled their Oldsmobile. He finally placed his eyes back on the road and vowed to keep them there until he reached his destination. He exited the freeway and was stopped at an intersection, extremely tempted to glance at the girl next to him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a streak of auburn hair fly around the drivers side of her car. He slowly turned his head at exactly the wrong moment."No way," He mumbled to himself as he came face to face with Casey. She quickly whipped her head back around and let off the brake, lightly hitting the gas, sending her out on the road. He sat in shock of what had just happened until the cars behind him started laying on their horns and he snapped back into reality. He quickly hit the gas and turned into the small parking lot of the bookstore. He pulled out the key and stuffed it in his pocket, replacing it with his wallet. He dug through it to see if he could even afford to buy something and caught sight of a $20. Good enough, he thought, and slid out of his seat, slamming the door as he went. He walked at a glacial pace, trying to buy himself some time. He didn't need his mother worrying about his lack of "fun" spent downtown. He slowly pushed open the thick glass doors, taking in the enormity of the bookstore itself. From the outside it seemed quaint, small, homey. But on the inside it was a grand portrayal of college libraries and classrooms. Things of which he only ever saw on TV, being home-schooled up until this point. It was July and although September seemed miles away, he knew it would creep up at an alarmingly fast pace, catching him off guard and sending him into the sea of crowded hallways and rowdy felt quite stupid standing in the entryway, making no effort to move a muscle, so he headed for the first shelf he could get to: Autobiographies. Perfect, he thought, just what every 18 year old dreams of. He quickly made his way down the aisle, only stopping once to tie his shoe. It intersected with Fantasy, which then led to young adult. He supposed it was his safest bet to start there. He paused every so often to pick up a book which, on the outside, seemed interesting, but upon further inspection, was no good. He had almost given up when he stumbled across a thick leather bound book. The gold cursive on the spine against the deep red exterior led him to believe it was decades old, but at the first turn of the page he found it was quite new. Something about a secluded man living in the wilderness on his own, previous loved ones all passing before him. A diary. It seemed almost accurate to the current situation at hand, so he quickly checked the price: $14. Good for a hardcover, he decided, and turned to walk to the register. He kept his eyes on the book as he walked, using only his peripheral vision to really make out where he was going. And before he knew it, he ran smack into her, sending everything flying to the floor as it always seems to do in these took him a while to realize what had just happened before he began to apologize, still not yet aware who he was speaking to. When he'd finally handed all the contents of her purse back, keeping the diary under his arm, he made his way back into a standing position. His eyes finally caught glance of her hair and he was thrown into shock all over again."Casey," He said amused, a glint of light now noticeable in his eye."Josh..." She returned, a little uncertain, keeping her eyes to the floor, bringing them up a few seconds at a time."Fancy meeting you here," He added with a wink, the nervousness of the morning fading away into the suppressed a smile and rolled her eyes before turning the other direction, ready to leave the awkward situation they were almost always in when together."Hey, hey, wait up." He caught her hand and whipped her around, "Okay, I need your opinion." Holding out the book to her, as he gently flipped through it. She reluctantly took it and flipped open to the first page. As her eyes grew wide, he studied her face once more. She read a few pages all the way through then slowly brought her eyes up, amazed."I... I have this. Would've never pegged you for it, though." She held out the book in his direction."And why is that?" He asked, raising an eyebrow before accepting it."Historical, insightful, the kind of book that would be assigned in a lit. class. Not exactly tabloid gossip," She said, an edge in her voice. He stared at her, completely unaware of just how little she knew."You really have no clue of who I am, do you?" A rhetorical question but she answered anyways."You're 'superstar' Josh Anderson, of course," She mimicked, adding sarcastic air-quotes around 'superstar'. He gave her a playful glare. Anyone else would get a smack to the head, but obviously, Casey was different."Anyways," She continued, "why would I know anything about you in the first place?" She brought up a very good point, leaving him momentarily stunned. "Curiosity," He finally muttered."Not everyone is that obsessed with you, Josh," She challenged, crossing her arms. He let out an exasperated sigh and rested his elbow on the shelf beside him before speaking,"That's not what I meant, Casey. Contrary to what everyone thinks, I don't consider myself better than people just because they can turn on their TV and find out everything about my career, which if you haven't noticed, is over." This took her off guard for a moment and she instantly felt bad about what she'd said. She lowered her arms so they were now resting at her sides. She looked at how irritated his face became and apologized."Sorry, I just assumed... I don't know what I assumed, I'm just," She paused, trying to collect her thoughts and making no progress. "Sorry." She clutched her purse closer to her body and began to turn around once more. "It's, no, it's okay. You didn't know. Nobody ever knows," He spoke to her back, as she stopped what she was doing to listen. She turned and gave a sympathetic look before he removed his elbow from the shelf and began to walk past her. Her eyes stayed glued to his back as he walked to the counter and waited for the cashier. She mulled over all the things she could say to make him feel the least bit better. For some reason, which she had no idea, she truly cared about him. She let out a long sigh and made her way over to Josh as the cashier handed him his receipt. Before he could turn to leave, she placed a hand on his shoulder. He whipped around and gave a half-hearted smile when he realized it was her. At first, she stood with a vacant expression, still not aware of what to say. He looked at her expectantly, as she removed her hand from his shoulder."You don't have to feel sorry for me, Casey. It's my own fault," He said after realizing she didn't have anything to say. "I don't, it's just..." She didn't know exactly what she meant to say, but she did feel sorry for him. "You're always alone," She continued, "Maybe you just need some friends". She lightly slapped his arm, smiling, as he pretended to look hurt."Ouch, Case," He jokingly replied and turned to walk to his car as she walked beside him, all arguments off the table."Hey," She suddenly had the perfect idea. "I'm getting coffee with Angela and Zane soon," She paused, "you... should come." She finished, ringing her hands out of nervousness. He was slightly taken off guard at the suggestion, but managed to keep the shock from surfacing throughout his face."Uh... Sure. Now?" He asked, nervously taking out his keys, hands slightly shaking."Yeah. Just follow my car, it's literally right around the corner," She dug around her purse for her phone and jammed her key into the lock on her door. "Sounds great," He replied, walking a few spaces over, and getting into his own car. He finally saw her car pull out of the parking space and he edged behind her. She pulled out onto the road and continued straight for about a minute before turning into an extremely small parking lot. She took up one of the last spots available as he watched, in awe, at how small the place was. The lot itself had exactly 6 spaces in total. As he swung in next to her, she got out and leaned against the passenger side door, waiting for him. As he got out, she started making her way forward while talking."Obviously they don't know you're with me, so if they kind of just..." She tried to find the right word, "Stare... Don't be offended. After all, you ARE superstar Josh Anderson," She ended with a smile as she softly nudged his rib with her elbow. He gave a short laugh and pulled open the door, letting her enter the small café before him. She walked to the back, finding a rather large table set for four. She dumped her purse on one of the empty chairs as Josh took a seat across from her. She fumbled through her purse and finally dug out her phone. She pursed her lips and rolled her eyes as she read the message out loud."Sorry Case, we had to bail. Zane is taking me to Southside for a picnic. How sweet is he? Sorry again!" Casey flipped her phone shut and threw it on her purse, irritated. Josh didn't know what to say so he remained still, eyes on Casey, waiting for a signal as to what to do."Well, we can at least get something. If you want, I mean," She spit out the last sentence almost too fast to comprehend. He let out a light laugh at her expression as he responded by taking out his wallet and picking up a menu."What do you want? I'll go order," He offered as he paged through the small, paper pamphlet. "I'll just take a decaf hazelnut latte," She answered as she handed him a five. He rolled his eyes,"Girls and their coffee," He joked, rolling his eyes, as he pushed out his chair and headed to the counter. Casey gave a smile and picked up the menu, giving her hands something to do. She eyed Josh from behind the paper every few seconds as she thought. Nice, charming, down-to-earth, funny, insightful, better than about eighty percent of her class. Maybe being blown off wasn't a complete let-down. He almost caught her as he turned and headed back with their coffee. She quickly put down the menu and grabbed her change."Thanks." She stuffed the dollar and twenty-five cents into her purse as he set down their cups. "Not a problem," He replied, pulling out his chair and taking his seat. "So Angela and Zane. How long has that been?" He asked, partly curious, partly anxious to avoid any awkward silences."About two months. Every time I'm with Ang, she won't shut up about it. Or about him. Or about the 'cutest thing he did!' or the 'most adorable thing he said!'" She paused, "It's disgusting."Josh lifted his eyebrows. "Disgusting? Aren't girls supposed to find that sort of thing interesting?" She rolled her eyes, "Not all girls.""Come on, if it were you, you'd want to talk about it all the time too," He said, taking a sip of his drink then immediately trying to refrain himself from spitting it out. Casey's face pulled into a smile."Hot?" She asked, slightly laughing, as he nodded and tried to comfort his burnt tongue. "Besides," She continued, "I'm not the type to publicly announce anything. Especially not to Angela, because you might as well be talking to the entire student body.""Interesting," He replied, resting his chin on his hand."What?" She asked, scrunching her eyebrows."I mean I figured you and Angela were sort of close. I didn't know she irritated you so much." That comment bothered Casey more than it should have and she instantly went to Angeles rescue."She is a close friend! And she doesn't irritate me that much, she just has certain qualities that you have to be..." She searched for the right word, "aware of... before giving too much away. And Zane is a good guy, I'm glad she has him," She ended, crossing her arms."Alright, alright, I won't say anything else about that." He put up his hands as if to surrender and leaned back in his chair. She finally picked up her coffee and took a sip, satisfied with the temperature."It's fine now." She gestured to his cup and he reluctantly picked it up. "What did you get anyway? I never asked.""Black," He answered, cautiously taking a sip. She made a face and started pouring sugar into her drink. He pulled a face back at her, causing her to smile."Men," Was all she had to say about that matter."Whatever, hazelnut latte," He shot back at her, involuntarily nudging her foot with his own. The next few hours seemed to fly by as they talked about anything and everything. His career, her family, his favorite food, her favorite color, their old kindergarten class, how much everyone had changed, how much different L.A. is from Texas, how she has stage fright, how he accidentally punched one of his directors in the jaw. Everything. They were finishing out a particularly long story of how Casey broke her foot in fifth grade when a soft jingle started playing from her purse."Oh, hold on a sec, it's my mom," She explained, answering her phone. After a few seconds of "What? No. Sorry, what? I can't hear you. Where are you?" she finally excused herself from the table and took the call outside. He noticed a pen that had spilled out of her bag when she grabbed her phone. He looked at it for about a minute, the scenarios playing in his head, as they had been for the past hour and a half. He finally picked up a napkin and quickly jotted down his number, leaving his name right below it. He put down the pen and stuffed the napkin into her purse as he heard the bell go off, signaling she had came back inside. As she rounded the corner, she started picking up her things."Josh, I'm really sorry but I have to go. My moms having this diner for her boss and she's really scatter-brained and I just, I have to go," She threw her phone in her purse and fished out her keys as she started to lift the bag onto her shoulder. "Thanks for staying, Josh, it was really fun," She said, barely looking at him as he got to his feet, intending to walk her out. "Yeah, I guess I'll just..." He was at a loss of what to say, afraid now of what she'll do when she finds the napkin. She paused just outside the door and finally looked him in the eye."I'll see you later?" She questioned, quite nervous of his reaction."Count on it," He pushed open the door, silently cursing himself and shaking his head for saying 'Count on it'.She gave him one last look before she got into her car and backed out, leaving a puff of dust from the gravel parking lot."Later," He whispered as he watched her go.


End file.
